In the passage in which Heck Tate, a police officer, delivers his testimony, he gets across that he got a call that a black man has raped a young girl. He says that when he arrived on the scene the girl was "pretty well beat up", but that he was able to get her to her feet and ask her who abused her. She responds, "Tom Robinson." That is one of the lead characters in the book: the black character who is falsely accused. Then Tate says that he brought the young woman, Mayella, to Robinson's house where she identified him, and that he arrested him, "and that was all there was to it". This testimony is false however since Tom's left arm is mangled and so he could not have pinned her down and also hurt her in one simultaneous instance.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Heck Tate is the sheriff of Maycomb County. He gives his testimony as the first witness for the prosecution and is questioned by Mr. Gilmer, the prosecuting attorney, in chapter 17. Heck begins his testimony by stating that he was "fetched by Mr. Bob Ewell" because Mr. Ewell claimed his daughter had been raped. Heck then shares that when he arrived on the scene, he found Mayella on the floor. Heck could tell that she had been beaten. When he asked Mayella who did this to her, she claimed it was Tom Robinson. Heck asked her if Tom "took advantage of her," and she claimed he had. Then, according to Heck, he arrested Tom.
Atticus begins his turn with Heck by asking, "Did you call a doctor, Sheriff?" Heck then explains that while it was clear that something happened, a doctor wasn't called because no one thought a doctor was needed. Heck then explains Mayella's condition by stating, "she was pretty bruised up when I got there, and she had a black eye comin'." When asked by Atticus which of her eyes was black, Heck originally states that it was her left eye. However, he then realizes that it was the right side of Mayella's face that had bruising. As Heck makes this claim, Scout recalls that it was as if "something had suddenly been made plain to him." Atticus obviously also realizes something, because he stands when Heck makes the statement. Finally, Heck shares that Mayella had bruises on her arms and marks around her neck.
Heck's testimony is honest. While he is called as a witness for the prosecution, his statements actually help the defense. While the reader does not yet know, Heck and Atticus know that Tom's left arm is mangled and useless. Heck's testimony that Mayella's bruises were on the right side of her face would mean that her injuries were most likely inflicted by someone left-handed. In addition, Tom could not have held Mayella and hit her at the same time, since he did not have the use of his left arm.
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